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The effect of alkali and enzymatic treatments on flax fibre morphology, mechanical, and adhesion properties was investigated. The multilength scale analysis allows for the correlation of the fibre's morphological changes induced by the treatments with mechanical properties to better explain the adherence properties between flax and PLA. The atomic force microscopy (AFM) images revealed the removal of primary layers, upon treatments, down to cellulose microfibrils present in the secondary layers. The variation in mechanical properties was found to be dependent, apart from the crystalline content, on interaction between cellulose microfibrils and encrusting polysaccharides, pectins and hemicelluloses, in the secondary layers. Finally, microbond tests between the modified fibres and PLA emphasize the important role of the outer fibre's surface on the overall composite properties. It was observed here that gentle treatments of the fibres, down to the oriented microfibrils, are favourable to a better adherence with a PLA drop. This paper highlights the important role of amorphous polymers, hemicellulose and pectin, in the optimisation of the adhesion and mechanical properties of flax fibres in the biocomposite.

International audience; Biocomposites are sensitive to water, and previous work on flax reinforced PLLA showed a large drop in mechanical properties after immersion (Le Duigou et al. 2009). Unreinforced PLLA was much less sensitive. This paper presents a strategy to reduce the influence of wet ageing by adding extra layers of PLLA on the biocomposite surface. Weight gain measurements show that a PLLA coating 350um thick reduces weight gain by half, and biocomposite stiffness and strength after ageing are improved by 100% compared to uncoated composite behaviour. Thermal analysis and microscopic examination are used to show damage mechanisms with and without protection. Property changes are shown to be quasilinearly related to weight gain.